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Hawks sign Mario West to 10-day contract

The Atlanta Hawks today signed guard Mario West to a 10-day contract, according to Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund.

West, who attended Douglas County High School in Douglasville before a four-year career at Georgia Tech, has appeared in 117 regular season games (five starts) with the Hawks over the last two years, averaging 0.9 ppg and 0.9 rpg in 4.6 mpg (.422 FG%, .554 FT%). He’s also seen action in 17 playoff contests with the Hawks, putting up 0.4 ppg (.231 FG%) in 3.1 mpg.

Last regular season, he played in 53 games, and averaged 0.8 ppg and 1.1 rpg in 5.1 mpg (.412 FG%, .467 FT%). In 11 postseason contests, West compiled 0.5 ppg and 0.5 rpg in 4.2 mpg.

This season, West attended training camp with the Hawks, and saw action in five preseason games, compiling 2.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.0 spg (.417 FG%, 1-1 3FGs). He was waived by the Hawks on October 21, and has played in 11 games (six starts) with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League, where he recorded 13.7 ppg, 4.1 apg, 2.9 rpg and 1.3 spg (.490 FG%, .250 3FG%, .672 FT%) in 29.7 mpg.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound guard will once again wear uniform no. 6.

Kevin Martin set to return

Sacramento Kings’ guard Kevin Martin today has been cleared for full contact participation after he was examined by Dr. Robert Szabo. Martin will practice tomorrow and accompany the team on the upcoming six-game, 10-day road trip.

Martin underwent surgery to repair a non displaced hairline fracture of the navicular bone in his left wrist on November 9th. He averaged a team-leading 30.6 points per game through the first five outings of the season before missing the last 31 games due to the injury.

The 15-21 Kings are currently the 13th seed out of 15 teams in the strong Western conference.

Scott Skiles hospitalized with irregular heartbeat

The AP reports:

Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat before Monday night’s 105-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Jim Boylan, who coached in Skiles’ absence, said the coach was doing well.

“He’s fine,” Boylan said. “He’ll be joining us in Portland. He has a little arrhythmia.”

Pops Mensah-Bonsu signs in Russia

Euroleague.net reports: Already planning for the Euroleague’s next round, CSKA Moscow on Tuesday announced the siging of center Pops Mensah-Bonsu for the remainder of the season, pending the medical tests. Mensah-Bonsu (206, 26) will replace Courtney Sims, who had been on a tryout with CSKA during the last two weeks. Mensah-Bonsu arrives from Toronto of the NBA, where he averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 53 games.

Knicks believe OKC hotel was haunted

Lots of NBA basketball talk revolves around minor things like offense, defense, wins, and losses. While those trivial things are perhaps worthy of at least partial attention, there’s not enough emphasis on haunted hotel discussion.

That’s right. Teams have to worry about whether the hotel they’re staying in is filled with ghosts. Or at least that’s a concern some Knicks players had when visiting Oklahoma City to play the Thunder.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports:

For two days, several players had trouble sleeping because they were convinced that their downtown hotel is haunted.

“I definitely believe it,” Jared Jeffries said. “The place is haunted. It’s scary.”

Eddy Curry claims he slept for only two hours Sunday night because he couldn’t stop thinking about ghosts roaming the hotel.

For years, guests staying at the Skirvin Hilton have reported ghost sightings and strange noises.

The Thunder should urge all visiting teams to stay there. That’s a pretty sweet advantage!

Anthony Randolph out 2 months

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Anthony Randolph is the latest player in the Warriors’ string of long-term medical woes. He is projected to miss about two months with multiple left ankle injuries, the team announced before Monday’s game against Cleveland.

An MRI exam revealed Randolph has two torn ligaments on the outside of the ankle and an avulsion fracture where an inside ligament pulled away from the bone. He’ll be in a protective boot for three weeks before starting rehabilitation, which usually takes at least four weeks for similar injuries.

“I expected it to be a long time, and I think it will be,” coach Don Nelson said. “I wouldn’t call it season-ending, but I think it will be pretty close.”

InsideHoops talks to Jodie Meeks

Milwaukee Bucks rookie guard Jodie Meeks was selected 41st overall (second round) of the 2009 NBA draft and made a positive impression in NBA summer league play.

At Kentucky, he had a famous 54-point game on 15-of-22 shooting with 10-of-15 three-pointers in a win over Tennessee.

The 6-4, 208-pound scorer is getting limited court time in his first season, averaging 4.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game. But he’s talented and has a bright future.

Michael Redd out for season

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced today that guard Michael Redd will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee during the second period of the Bucks loss at Los Angeles on Sunday, January 10.

Redd, 30, underwent an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) exam this morning in Phoenix, AZ, which revealed the injury. Surgery to repair the injury will be scheduled at a date to be determined.

“We are deeply disappointed for Michael who worked so hard to make it back from this injury,” said Hammond. “We know Michael will work tirelessly to get himself healthy again and we will support him fully in his efforts.

“Although Michael is out for the season, we still have over half the season to play. That gives all of our players, especially our younger guys, the opportunity to earn more playing time the rest of the season.”

Redd suffered the same injury last season in a home win over Sacramento on January 24, 2009, and had surgery on March 3, 2009, to repair the injury.

“It’s hard to explain the emotions that I’m feeling,” said Redd. “I know the amount of hard work it will take for me to get back to playing and helping our team, but I will continue to put my trust in God to get me though this.”

In 18 games this season (12 starts), Redd averaged 11.9 points with 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steal in 27.3 minutes.

Redd is in his 10th season with the Bucks, tied with Junior Bridgeman (75-84, 86-87) and Sidney Moncrief (79-89) for the most seasons in team history. On January 5 at New Jersey, Redd moved past Bob Dandridge (11,478) for fourth place on the franchise list in scoring and currently stands at 11,510 points, 84 points behind Sidney Moncrief’s third place mark (11,594).

This season Redd passed Sidney Moncrief (4,000) for seventh place in field goals made on December 16 against the Lakers and also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2,407) for second place in free throws made on December 26 against San Antonio. He’s one three-pointer shy of 1,000 for his career and 52 away from Ray Allen’s (1,051) franchise leading total for three pointers. Through Sunday’s game, there are 53 players in NBA history with at least 1,000 three pointers.

Redd is also tied for seventh place with Glenn Robinson for games played (568), in fifth place for minutes played (19,205) and 36 steals shy of 600 for his career; just 43 away from Junior Bridgeman and Terry Cummings’ ninth place total in franchise history (607).

Hornets trade Hilton Armstrong to Kings

The Sacramento Kings today acquired the services of center-forward Hilton Armstrong in a trade with the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for a conditional 2016 second round pick and cash considerations, according to Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.

“We’re looking forward to having Hilton join the team,” explained Petrie. “He gives us an athletic player who can play the four and five positions. We think he can come in and contribute and we’re looking forward to watching him play.”

Armstrong, who is currently in his fourth NBA season, is averaging 2.8 points (.380 FGs, .464 FTs) and 3.4 rebounds per game for the Hornets through 18 outings. He has amassed career averages of 3.6 points (.513 FGs, .605 FTs) and 2.7 rebounds per game through 209 contests.

Selected as the 12th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by New Orleans, Armstrong enjoyed a four-year career at the University of Connecticut and was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

Nets trade Eduardo Najera to Mavs for Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams

The New Jersey Nets have acquired forwards Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams from the from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Eduardo Najera, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.

Humphries, currently in his sixth NBA season, holds career averages of 4.3 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 313 games with Utah, Toronto and Dallas. The 6’9” forward out of the University of Minnesota was the first round pick (14th overall) of the Utah Jazz in the 2004 NBA Draft. After two seasons with the Jazz, Humphries was traded on 6/8/06 to the Toronto Raptors. Following three seasons in Toronto, Humphries was traded to Dallas this past offseason (7/9/09). This season, Humphries has played in 25 games for the Mavericks, averaging 5.6 ppg and 3.8 rpg in 12.6 mpg. He has season highs of 15 points on 11/20 vs. Sacramento and 11 rebounds on 11/27 at Indiana.

Williams, currently in his fourth NBA season has career averages of 7.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg in 15 games with Indiana and Dallas. The former first round draft pick (17th overall) of the Pacers in 2006 has been on the Mavericks inactive list every game this season.

Najera (6-8, 235) will be returning to Dallas after playing his first four professional seasons for the Mavericks. Dallas originally acquired the rights to Najera in a draft night trade with Houston on June 28, 2000. He played in 208 games (34 starts) as a Maverick averaging 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per contest. Najera also played in 39 postseason games with Dallas, including 19 games (5 starts) in 2003 when the Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals.